


The Perfect Love Story by Lee Jeno

by nakamotosbff



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fanboys - Freeform, Football | Soccer, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mentioned Lee Taemin, Silly, Strangers to Lovers, Trans Male Character, not really a big deal though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-04-24 06:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19167664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakamotosbff/pseuds/nakamotosbff
Summary: fanboy jeno has read enough fanfics to know exactly what not to do, so when he develops a crush on soccer boy lee donghyuck, he's determined to do it right.





	1. rule 1: don't fall for straight boys or jocks

**Author's Note:**

> very very impulsive project. very very self-indulgent. :D  
> idk if universities have nurse's offices. my high school doesn't even have one. imagine jeno's uni does.

Number one on Jeno Lee’s long, long list of romance rules was to never, not in _any_ case, fall for either a straight boy or a jock. Why he, a gay adolescent boy, shouldn’t develop feelings for a straight boy was probably pretty clear. Why he shouldn’t fall for a jock?

The thing was, Jeno was, well… He wasn’t a nerd or a geek, not really. He wasn’t unpopular, he knew plenty of people thought he was good-looking even though he only had one friend who was a year below him and barely talked to anyone else. He was just a shy person.

He wasn’t hiding his sexuality, he just didn’t proclaim it everywhere.  Most people didn’t really seem to care, which he had gotten very lucky with. It was great. It probably helped that the most popular boy in school was bi, and _did_ tell whoever did or didn’t want to hear about it. That wasn’t the reason for his shyness.

No, Jeno had a completely different secret. Jeno Lee was a fanboy. As in, an actual proper fanboy of immensely popular singer Taemin. A fanboy who went to all his concerts (if he managed to scrape enough money together), owned all his albums, collected merch and had the dream of personally meeting him one day. Also, he read fanfics. Had probably read more fanfics than actual published novels.

It was thanks to his extensive use of fanfics and wide knowledge of fanfic tropes that the list now was a thing. Sometimes, Jeno called the list in his head something cool, like ‘Jeno’s Romance Rules’ or ‘Jeno’s Infallible Guide To A Perfect Love Story’.

It didn’t matter at all that Jeno had never kissed anyone, never had a crush on anyone and never dated anyone when he was already nineteen years old. Didn’t matter at all. He had the knowledge and indirect experience at his call for when it _did_ maybe, finally one day come to that.

The list was, as the first mental title suggested, a number of rules he’d made for himself, all taken from observations through fics. Some tropes, and in real life, _situations,_ were just not ideal when you were trying to seduce or date someone (or both). And, as fellow fanboys and fangirls probably knew just as well as Jeno; never follow characters from romantic stories.

Almost always, the characters ended up pining, sad and miserable with the idea that their subject of affection would never like them back. Other times, their crush already liked them but thought they were straight. Sometimes, it happened the other way around. Characters often dealt with miscommunication, stupid and unrealistic situations like fake dating or having to share a bed.

All those were things Jeno didn’t want to deal with. On more occasions that not, they made the progress of the relationships so much slower, and as much as Jeno liked slow burn fics, he wasn’t really eager to experience that in his own life.

So, he’d made the rules. The list wasn’t all that long, but many of the rules had rub-rules that were just as important. It was by far the most organized thing in Jeno’s life. (Not that he was usually very self-deprecating. It was true.)

Rule number one, as he’d said before, was to never, ever fall for a straight guy or a jock. The reason he probably shouldn’t fall for a straight boy was most likely not too much of a mystery. Then, jocks. Jeno was very aware they didn’t have to be straight. In fact, one of the most popular first year jocks was openly bisexual, and no one shamed him for it. still, with being a jock often came popularity, and with popularity came a lot of people who knew you and paid attention to you.

Jeno wasn’t the most socially experienced person, so getting involved with someone who was sounded exhausting. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle all the sudden attention that’d probably be focused on him, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be either. Plus, all through high school he hadn’t failed yet, despite some of the jocks being very handsome.

As of now, Jeno was in his first year of university, his aim being a bachelor in Dance and Performance. He was terrible at sports and his hand-eye coordination was pretty much worthless, but if there was one thing he was confident in it was dancing. He’d been doing it since he was a kid (inspired by Taemin, who had been famous for nearly half as long as Jeno had been alive) and had never quite lost the spark, never got bored by the kick it gave him.

He got along well with his upperclassmen, had another boy in his year who he’d worked together with once and a few second-years who had been nice to him as well. Yet, he had no other actual friends at university. He didn’t mind sitting alone much, quite liked the privacy he had, but sometimes it was a bit embarrassing to think that his only friend was still in high school.

His only comfort in this was that Jisung was aiming for Dance as well, and if Jeno managed to get in there was no way Jisung wouldn’t either. He was some sort of prodigy, winning all sorts of awards and prizes in competitions and undoubtedly completely ruining Jeno if he were to ever duel him.

Now, back to the jocks. Maybe it was because he’d gotten lucky, maybe it was because he was now in university where no one could be bothered less about what other people were doing, but at least two members of the soccer team weren’t straight, and three others had admitted to knowing girl group dances.

Jeno felt wonderfully safe, as gay person, and he knew it wasn’t always that easy. He really had gotten lucky. Though, it was probably also easier at an arts school. Most people were studying something related to humanities or liberal arts. Jeno wasn’t sure if it was a stereotype or not, but he felt like generally those people were more openminded anyway.

Yes, his rule was to never fall for a jock, but he couldn’t help but admire them. He’d gotten lucky enough to be studying something that counted as exercise. He couldn’t imagine keeping up with his studies and exercising or being part of a club at the same time. Also, the jocks at his uni were nice.

Very, very nice. A few of them were also… quite pretty. Maybe now it was more understandable why Jeno had added the jocks to his list. They were dangerous.

In fact, the prettiest of them all, in Jeno’s opinion, was the way too popular openly bi one; Lee Donghyuck. The first time he’d complained about him to Jisung, the latter had just laughed and said; “you have the same surnames, it’s fate!”

It was most definitely not. Not only was Jisung not funny, it was bullshit. Nonsense. Lee Donghyuck didn’t even know Lee Jeno existed, and Jeno was happy about that. No fuss, no crush. Nope. Because he wasn’t allowed to fall for jocks. Not that he’d ever fall for someone like Lee Donghyuck.

He was nice, sure, and very pretty, and didn’t seem to have let the popularity get to his head. He was a good soccer player, and if he had to believe his one-time dancing partner, he was an amazing dancer as well. Childhood friend, or something. Jeno didn’t care about Lee Donghyuck. At all.

Jisung called his feelings towards (psh, more like _against_ ) Lee Donghyuck a crush, but Jeno knew better. He had only spoken to him once, when Donghyuck got lost on his first day and happened to stumble into Jeno on his way to class.

Jeno recalled it like it was yesterday. Donghyuck had been gross and sweaty, like he’d ran all the way to campus, and quite literally ran into Jeno. At least he didn’t completely bowl him over and managed to keep the two of them standing. Jeno definitely would’ve been upset if he had.

“Hey,” Donghyuck had said, panting heavily, “I’m Lee Donghyuck. You another first year? Can you please help me, I have to be at the drama department in… three minutes, and I overslept on orientation day. Please save me!”

This all was said in one breath, and it annoyed Jeno. He sure seemed to be fitting for Drama. Plus, he looked unfairly handsome even while sweating buckets. Jeno didn’t do crushes, but his gay heart couldn’t simply _not_ skip a beat at the sight of a pretty boy so close.

So, Jeno did what was probably the reason they never spoke again after that incident: he looked at Donghyuck, mumbled out a “you stink” and walked away. Like a true gay disaster. Because he was. It was quite sad, really.

Then, maybe a week later, Jeno heard from people Lee Donghyuck had managed to get into the starting line-up for the soccer team, which was usually only reserved for older players. Days later, he was the talk of the school and Jeno was glad he hadn’t stuck around to get sucked into Donghyuck’s captivating persona and risked becoming his friend.

Would’ve been way too much of a hassle, to personally know someone popular. Not something Jeno would want, even if it meant being closer to Lee Donghyuck. Not at all.

Yeah, who was Jeno fooling, anyway. He had failed his first rule, only days after starting at university. He’d went and developed some dumb hopeless crush on a soccer player and popular boy. One he was never, ever talking to again.

Now, at first this greatly bothered Jeno. He had been miserable for days after discovering his crush. Jisung had called him an idiot multiple times and even roped his immensely awkward older brother into yelling at Jeno to not be an idiot. That was kind of painful. Still, he hated it.

After a while, though, he accepted it. After all, it wasn’t like Donghyuck knew he existed. If he even remembered their encounter _weeks_ ago, he didn’t know Jeno’s name and probably didn’t remember what he looked like. Jeno had only stared at his face and the height difference between them for maybe ten or twenty seconds and walked away, hadn’t even told Donghyuck his name.

Under the tiny possibility that he both remembered and cared (if only to get revenge on Jeno for being so fucking hopeless and unhelpful and also telling him he stank), Jeno doubted anyone else at uni knew his name.

He’d made a deal with himself: if he didn’t talk to Donghyuck again that year, the crush had never existed and he hadn’t broken any rules. He’d be perfectly fine; it wasn’t like he hadn’t survived nineteen years not talking to Donghyuck. Even now, he’d only said two words to the other. He’d be perfectly fine, had been for like three or four months now.

Lost in thought, Jeno had almost reached the building where he usually resided; the dance practice rooms, where no one else but the dance department dared to go thanks to the terrifying mentors, who were all graduates from this university and had landed themselves a job there after leaving.

They were insanely talented and had a passion for dance and teaching and were also the only teachers at the entire school known to be in a gay relationship. As in, with each other. Jeno loved the representation. Even though they w _ere_ kind of scary.

Next to the practice building, were the sports fields. Jeno usually managed to keep his eyes off the fields, where the teams were almost always practicing right when Jeno was done with usual classes. More often than not, he failed, and walked extra slowly in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Lee Donghyuck. That was fine, though. As long as they didn’t talk, Jeno was good.

The next day, they were playing what looked like a mock game, and Jeno decided to not stop to watch, to not potentially distract someone. Not that he was distracting. Donghyuck was. Maybe a little bit too much. The person Jeno didn’t want to distract was himself. He had a dance practice to get to.

He didn’t get very far.

Before he could open or even reach the doors of his building, he heard yelling behind him. Surprised, he turned around, only to see a soccer ball coming closer to his face at a suspicious speed. Next thing he knew, his head hit the door with a sickening crunch, and everything went black.

***

“Oh my god, he isn’t dead right?” a voice said, sounding strangely far away. “Wait, no, he’s opening his eyes. Hyuck, you didn’t kill him!”

“Shut up, you idiot,” a more familiar voice hissed back. Jeno sighed and closed his eyes again. “He can hear you.”

Jeno contemplated the thought to just roll over and turn his back to the people talking while his head hurt as badly as it did, but then even moving his head hurt and why was he on a bed. He was not on a bed when everything went black. Why did everything go black?

Suddenly panicked, Jeno shot up in bed, immediately falling onto his back again when his head throbbed like it never had before. He groaned, and hands reached out to his shoulders to stabilize him and slowly help him into a sitting position.

Whoever was helping him was being very gentle and sweet. And their hands were soft. Jeno liked that. He liked their hands. And they were nice. Wow, his head _really_ hurt. Slowly, he opened his eyes again, this time blinking furiously to get used to the bright light.

Someone giggled beside him, but Jeno paid no mind to it. He really was in a bed, but in his clothes, and he didn’t know why. He’d been hit in the head by a ball, he remembered that. He’d probably forever be traumatized by soccer balls, now. Sad. No talking to or looking at Lee Donghyuck. Which also meant his crush had never existed. Lee Donghyuck was merely a figment of his imagination.

When his eyes were finally used to the light, he turned his head to scan his surroundings. That probably sounded cooler than it looked, because Jeno’s head was still throbbing and every tiny movement hurt. He groaned again, and leaned his back against the headrest.

“I’m so sorry,” the familiar voice said beside him, luckily softer than before. He didn’t want an additional headache, though that probably wasn’t possible. “Are you okay? The nurse said it’s only a light concussion, but it’s completely my fault. Can you dance with a concussion? God, I should’ve been more careful, I’m so sorry.”

Everything in one breath. That voice, that undoubtedly fit with the drama Lee Donghyuck embodied. Jeno groaned again. A quick look to the side the voice was coming from told him that yes, Lee Donghyuck was sitting beside him, and he knew Jeno danced even though no one had ever told him, probably, and he was apologizing and it was his fault Jeno was in this bed with a throbbing headache.

Jeno’s heart fluttered a bit. Donghyuck had talked to him again. He’d broken his first rule, and it had landed him in the nurse’s office.

This was why he shouldn’t fall for jocks, damn it.


	2. rule 2: never friendzone your crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeno wants to ignore his earlier rule-breaking, but donghyuck just wants to apologize. and maybe be his friend.

A week after the tragedy, Jeno was back in the dance studio. It was probably a bit too early, as his head still hurt when he made weird or sudden movements with it, but Jeno couldn’t last much longer not dancing. Also, avoiding Donghyuck was very important, and apparently incredibly difficult.

Lee Donghyuck seemed to be everywhere Jeno was, and that was a problem. Yes, his rule had been broken already. Yes, he had no other choice but to admit he had a crush on Donghyuck. It was a fact, now that Donghyuck talked to him.

That didn’t mean they needed to keep in contact. Not talking might make it go away, was Jeno’s hope.

Donghyuck did not seem to get that memo.

Jeno understood that he meant well, of course, but… Donghyuck wasn’t helping his issue much. He was trying to apologize and did that again and again from the door opening of Jeno’s classroom, with everyone else following said class giving him weird looks.

Everyone knew Donghyuck, no one knew Jeno. He’d always intended to keep it that way, but now people were looking at him. People he didn’t want to talk to were now asking him questions. Things like why is the Great Lee Donghyuck gravelling at your feet and begging for forgiveness? Did his smile shine too bright and blind you?

Well, they didn’t ask that, but. Yeah.

It was a problem. Especially because the past week, Jeno had barely been able to stop thinking about Donghyuck, even without him constantly stalking Jeno. In fact, he couldn’t stop. In his mind was a continuous replay of the moment he helped Jeno sit up in the dumb bed, with his stupid soft and nice hands and soft voice and cute everything. Jeno hated it.

He wasn’t even sure if Donghyuck knew his name, but he had known Jeno danced before, and he wasn’t sure what to make of that. Had Donghyuck seen him enter the dance studios? Had he asked around? Maybe he knew someone from the dance department?

Jeno didn’t care much about that. What he did care about was that now that Jeno was no longer hiding at home and back to dancing, Donghyuck might know where to find him. He did _not_ want Donghyuck to yell at him in his safe place, so to say.

On his way to the practice rooms, Jeno pointedly avoided looking at the soccer field and walked as fast as he could without hurting his head before he could even get to dancing.

Before he could even open the door, he heard yelling behind him, and he subconsciously flinched. He did not want another ball to his head, as nice as Donghyuck's hands and smile and voice were to wake up to. It hurt. Not something he wanted to experience again.

"Hey, you!" Donghyuck's voice exclaimed, getting closer and closer. Jeno cursed softly. He must've spotted Jeno from the field. He knew he should've come earlier, before soccer practice started. "Please, wait a second!"

Despite wanting pretty much anything but that, Jeno felt his heart melt, and he turned around. Donghyuck came to a stop a few meters away from him, panting lightly. Jeno cursed his stamina. This would've been much more satisfying if he- Not the point.

"Is there something you want from me?" Jeno asked, and Donghyuck's eyes widened. Jeno realized this was the first time that week he'd responded to Donghyuck, and that this was the second thing overall he'd said to Donghyuck. Also, that literally everything he'd ever said to his crush sounded hostile and stupid and Jeno was such an idiot, wasn't he?

Donghyuck chuckled nervously and wiped his hands on his shorts, and oh. Right. Fuck, Donghyuck looked even cuter in his soccer shorts from up close than from across the field. Damn it. Jeno forced his eyes away from his shins, and looked behind him at the door, before politely looking Donghyuck in the eye.

Well. Fuck rule number one, then. He really, really was screwed.

"Can you please let me apologize properly?" Donghyuck said, his breathing normal again. Jeno felt very called out. "Like, without running or turning your head away?" Jeno looked at him for a second and thought about it. His rule was already screwed, anyway. He had a hopeless, useless crush on this boy and he didn't know what to do about it, and it was legitimate because they'd talked to each other. Sort of.

 "Fine."

Donghyuck blinked a few times. "Oh, great. Okay. Didn't think I'd get this far. Wait, let me think for a second, I'm not prepared." Jeno felt a smile creep onto his face, and he just hoped he wouldn't start blushing halfway through. That'd be a literal nightmare.

"So, uh," Donghyuck started, fiddling with his fingers. Jeno kind of wanted to hold his hand. Like, really bad. And play with his fingers. "I didn't do it on purpose of course, but, umm..." No, _bad Jeno_. Leave Donghyuck alone, get over it. No thinking about maybe possibly one day holding his soft hands and ruffling his hair and hugging him and maybe even teaching him to dance and letting him teach Jeno how to kick a ball without falling flat on his ass?

"Wow, you really hate me, don't you," Donghyuck muttered out, and Jeno's head shot up. He ignored the flash of pain that shot through it and looked at Donghyuck. He hadn't even noticed that Donghyuck had stopped talking, or that he'd stopped looking at him.

"Why do you think that?" Jeno asked slowly, genuinely confused. He didn't hate Donghyuck. The opposite, really. Avoiding him was just... convenient. Not because Jeno hated him, gosh. That was crazy.

"You can't even look at me. Were you even listening?" Donghyuck asked, letting out a sad chuckle.

Jeno didn't know what to say. How could he tell and convince Donghyuck he didn't hate him without immediately exposing his massive crush? Jeno contemplated maybe telling him he did dislike him but decided against it. Donghyuck was way too nice for that. Jeno might be unsocial and want to avoid Donghyuck, but he didn't hate him. At all. So, he said; "I don't hate you".

Donghyuck pulled up one eyebrow, and suddenly Jeno felt incredibly self-conscious. He coughed awkwardly and inspected his shoes. Donghyuck scoffed. "See? You needed that long to say it. You can't even look at me. You don't seem too convinced yourself?"

Jeno huffed, keeping his eyes on his shoes. They were pretty dirty. Maybe it was time for new shoes. "I really don't hate you."

"Can you look at me when you say it?" Donghyuck said, voice louder, and Jeno froze up. He looked around him, behind Donghyuck, and sighed in relief. No one seemed to be watching them. Good. No one needed to see Jeno make such a huge fool of himself in front of his crush.

So, Jeno looked Donghyuck straight in the eye. "I don't hate you," he repeated, "why does it matter to you whether I do or don't?"

Donghyuck looked taken aback for a second, but he huffed and straightened himself soon after. "I don't know, I just do. I felt bad for not paying attention and knocking you out, and wanted to properly apologize, but you wouldn't let me. And maybe we could be friends, or something."

Jeno felt his eyebrows shoot up with surprise. Donghyuck wanted to be his friend? That was... a bad idea. Probably. The second rule on Jeno's list immediately came to his mind. _'Never friendzone your crush'_. Seemed like his crush just friendzoned himself. Fun.

"Do you even know my name?" Jeno blurted out, and he resisted slapping himself across the face. He was such an idiot. If Donghyuck didn't know his name, it meant distance Jeno could use to avoid and forget about Donghyuck. He just singlehandedly ruined it. What an idiot.

"Lee Jeno, first year, majoring in Dance and Performance. Am I right?" Donghyuck droned out. He tilted his head to the side, and Jeno felt his heart melt a little bit more. He was tragically weak to basically everything Donghyuck. It was a problem.

"Um," he stuttered out, feeling his face heat up. Please don't blush, he thought to himself, please. Let's at least get that right. No blush. "Yeah, um. True. Fair. Um, apology accepted."

Right after Jeno said that, Donghyuck's face cleared up and he grinned brightly at Jeno. _Be still, my beating heart_ , he mentally proclaimed.

"Great! So, can we be friends?" Donghyuck then asked. Jeno felt like he might get whiplash with how quickly Donghyuck's mood had changed. He was so dangerous.

"I don't have any friends here," Jeno said, and he wanted to slap himself across the face. Way to make yourself look like an absolute loser in front of your crush.

Donghyuck blinked a few times, then shrugged. "It's never too late to make new friends," he said casually. Jeno smiled to his shoes and shook his head.

"With that I mean- No one knows me now, and I like it. They leave me alone. I'm bad with new people," he said in an attempt to explain without immediately revealing how much of an awkward, unsocial mess he truly was.

"I can see that," Donghyuck chuckled, and Jeno kept his eyes on his shoes. Enough heart attacks for one day, he'd had his fill. "The first time we talked told me I stank. What was up with that, by the way?" Jeno forced himself to not freeze up.

Donghyuck remembered that? It made him nervous. Why did Donghyuck know those things about him, when no one else did?

Jeno shrugged and looked over Donghyuck's shoulder to the soccer field. He cursed under his breath again. A few of them had stopped running around, doing whatever it was they do, and were leaning over the fence. It looked a lot like they were looking at Donghyuck and him, and he frowned.

He raised an arm to point at the people behind Donghyuck, and he turned to look over his shoulder. "That's what I mean. You're popular here, I'm not," Jeno said. Yes, he had his rules, but his biggest reason to not want to become friends with Donghyuck was the amount of people that would know of it, and of him. That was not at all something he was comfortable with.

"Oh, them," Donghyuck said slowly, and turned back to Jeno. His eyebrows were scrunched up (cutely). Jeno knew Donghyuck was looking at him, but he tried to look not too affected by it by staring back.

"You know," Donghyuck continued, pensive, "if you didn't glare so much at everyone I'm sure you'd have tons of friends. You're pretty, and you seem nice when you're not saying I stink." Then, his eyes widened. "Oh my god," he said, "sorry, that’s so rude! I didn't mean you have to change or anything, or that you're mean, I just-"

"Don't worry," Jeno snorted, "I do have a friend, just not here. I'm not really looking to make friends, I'm perfectly fine by myself."

Donghyuck huffed. "You don't have to go out in public and be loud about being friends," he then said slowly, and the look in his eyes nearly made Jeno shiver. "If that's something you're uncomfortable with, we could also just text and do things without other people. Unless you really don't want to be friends."

Damn it. Donghyuck probably had him all figured out. Jeno wasn't sure what to say to that. Was he desperate enough to get closer to Donghyuck to break his second rule? Though... It was also an opportunity to get closer to him, and maybe... Do it right. Follow his other rules properly and-

He cut the thought before it could spiral too far and looked at Donghyuck. Could he have a change, possibly? Probably not, but...

"Yeah, deal," he heard himself say before he could stop himself. The smile on Donghyuck's face immediately made him hate himself a little bit less for agreeing to this. They swapped numbers, and then Donghyuck was running back to the soccer field. Jeno turned around and entered the dance building, heart beating way too fast for someone who just made a new friend.

 

***

Becoming Donghyuck's friend was kind of anticlimactic. He really kept to his word; he wasn't out there about having talked to Jeno, didn't bother him too much in public. He really seemed to have noticed that Jeno would be uncomfortable with much attention from other people, and he really appreciated it.

What Donghyuck was loud about, was texting Jeno. To Jeno, at least. He first texted him the evening after they swapped numbers and didn't stop double texting Jeno until he replied. It was endearing, and Jisung bullied him for a good half hour about the stupid giddy smile on his face as Donghyuck sent him a picture of himself with his dog.

In return, Jeno shared a picture of him being suffocated by one of his cats, and Donghyuck proceeded to go on an adorable emoticon rampage. Really, becoming acquaintances, moving on to friends, was not at all good for Jeno's heart.

On day three, Jeno passed Donghyuck in the halls, and the beaming smile on his face when Jeno waved at him was most definitely worth the looks the people surrounding him sent him. It wouldn't surprise Jeno if they had no idea who he was.

Somewhere, he did have the feeling of wanting to openly be Donghyuck's close friend, but they hadn't talked until a few days ago. When Jeno asked Jisung about it, the latter scoffed. "You're acting like you want to befriend him," he said, "but we all know you just want to _boyfriend_ him. Stop pretending."

Jeno couldn't even deny it.

A week in, they met up alone for the first time. Donghyuck invited Jeno over for a movie, and Jeno gladly ditched Jisung and his whiny ass.

"I really do want to become closer to you," Donghyuck said halfway through the movie, sitting a lot closer to Jeno than he had when the movie started. Not for the first time, Jeno wondered how Donghyuck could be so damn genuine and straightforward all the time. "I'm usually touchy with friends," Donghyuck continued casually, "so if you mind, tell me now so I don't make you uncomfortable on accident."

"N- no," Jeno stuttered, taken aback, "that's fine."

Donghyuck smiled and leaned his side against Jeno’s. "I feel like we'll be great friends," he muttered, and pressed play again.

Jeno wasn't so sure if he regretted it, or was extremely grateful for being forced to break his second rule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave shit! or not. xoxo!


	3. rule 3: never believe stupid assumptions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight warning for talk about faking bisexuality? like it's not true but it's mentioned quite a few times. just thought i'd say it.

Jeno still wasn't too sure what to think of his sudden, newfound friendship with Lee Donghyuck. It still felt kind of unreal to be able to call himself Donghyuck's friend. Jisung knew of his stupid feelings and was enjoying this opportunity to make fun of Jeno way too much. Thanks to Jisung, their shared online friend Renjun also found out about the... problem, and he seemed to be having his fun with it as well. Brats.

Donghyuck, on the other hand, was amazing. He had kept true to his word and hadn't told anyone of their relationship. If you could call it that. Friendship? Donghyuck was snarky, but friendly, and generally hilarious to be around. It had been a few weeks now, and Jeno only had good things to say about him.

He might be a bit biased in Donghyuck's favor because of that dumb crush that wouldn't go away, but he wasn't stupid. He knew Donghyuck wasn't perfect. Everyone had flaws, Donghyuck's biggest being his poor aim at times. Or, which was something Jeno liked to remind him of regularly to see him squirm and get embarrassed, the incident of the ball to Jeno's head. Still, he hadn't found many flaws in Donghyuck yet. He was just special.

At times, he kind of regretted asking Donghyuck to keep their friendship under the covers (no, that sounded bad. Under wraps? Secret?). Donghyuck was great, and his sexuality wouldn't be a problem, he was sure of that. Sometimes, he passed Donghyuck, and he'd throw a small wave or a smile, and Jeno just wished he could stop and chat for a bit, actually be friends in public.

But then there were also times where Donghyuck would walk somewhere, and he'd hear people talk behind him about how amazing he was, or how they'd like to be friends with him. Jeno knew he wouldn't be able to converse or hang out publicly with Donghyuck without getting unbearably uncomfortable with the attention it would surely bring to himself.

There was one thing that kept bothering him, though. Jisung was a brat about it, and Jeno knew he was just joking, but when he asked Jeno to tell him more about Donghyuck, it hit him that he knew next to nothing about Donghyuck. Renjun had joined Jisung in his questioning, but there wasn't much Jeno could tell them.

He'd been hanging out plenty with Donghyuck, had even invited the other over to his place once. Had showed him around his home, had let him in his room. They'd gone out a few times as well. To the movies, to the park. They'd gone out at nighttime once, just to walk around. They texted all the time.

It wasn't until Jisung started interrogating Jeno on Donghyuck that he realized that it had all been pretty superficial. All their conversations had been about teachers, people at the university, classes they followed. They'd talked about the weather and things they enjoyed doing, and about things their friends did. That was about it. He knew nothing about Donghyuck's family, his relationships, his love life. Knew nothing about any secrets, or deeper motivations, things that made Donghyuck Donghyuck. At this point, he was afraid to go deeper.

So, he did as every stupid person with a crush did: Jeno asked around. The first time he asked someone about Donghyuck wasn't even on purpose. He was on his way to the dance studio, already seeing Donghyuck running around on the soccer field when he suddenly heard a girl walking behind him say his name. He instantly felt guilty for listening in but couldn't help but try to listen to the rest of what she was saying.

"Yes, I know Lee Donghyuck," he heard a second girl say, "I don't think anyone at this school doesn't know of him. What about him?"

"Everyone says he's bisexual, right?" the first girl replied, and Jeno caught himself slowing down to catch everything the girl would say. "Honestly, I've been observing him a bit and I'm kind of starting to doubt that it's true. Even one of his friends agreed."

Jeno was, well, appalled. If Donghyuck came out as bisexual, who was she to doubt that? What friend of his would betray him like that and talk about him like that with others? But he still listened. The girl wasn't done talking. At least the second girl seemed doubtful of the first girl's claims.

"Observe him?" she said, distaste clear in her voice, "isn't that a bit creepy?"

"It's not like I stalked him," the first girl laughed, "don't worry about that. I've just hung around him and his friends a bit, and I'm not joking! He never talked about guys, and I've never seen him with one either."

Jeno hesitated, but quickly reminded himself to keep walking. If he never even spoke about boys... No, this was nonsense. Bullshit! He could be bisexual and still lean towards girls, or be bisexual and simply not have seen any guys he liked yet. This girl was ridiculous.

"You know what his friend also said?" she then continued. "She said she thought he might've even faked it and lied about his coming out to gain more popularity since everyone was so chill about it. Like, to show that he would also support LGBT people. She said that she believed he wasn't bisexual himself but just told people he was to show solidarity."

It was quiet for a while, but then the other girl spoke up again. "Wow. If that's true, isn't that... kind of gross? Faking your sexuality for popularity isn't cool."

Jeno couldn't hold it in anymore, and he turned around. "Sorry," he stammered out, "but do you think he would lie about that?"

He didn't want to believe the girls. He shouldn't. He felt terrible for even doubting Donghyuck, but if even his friend said it... He just didn't know what to believe. He had hung out with Donghyuck alone a few times, and he had always seemed genuine, friendly. Not like someone who would do something like that. 

The girl looked a bit shocked at Jeno's sudden question, but Jeno didn't get much time to mull over that. "I don't know him that well personally," she said, looking a bit flustered at being caught gossiping. "I couldn't say I'm one hundred percent sure, but I wouldn't put it aside him. Popular people do anything to get their fame, nowadays, especially now that LGBT people are more widely accepted."

Jeno quickly nodded, already far away with his thoughts and continued walking. The rest of the day, Jeno spent with his head in the clouds. He was aware of this, but he couldn't stop thinking about Donghyuck, about what the girls of that afternoon had talked about.

Donghyuck had given him absolutely no reason to doubt his honesty, but who knew? There were so many things about him that Jeno didn't know, things he wasn't sure he'd ever get to find out as random friend either. They weren't even that close. Right?

Everything was too confusing. Jeno didn't want to betray Donghyuck and believe what the girls said right away, but if they were right asking Donghyuck about it would be useless. He felt like a terrible friend and even worse crush-person (person with a crush?), but he couldn't help but worry.

If they were right, and Donghyuck was lying about being bisexual, there was no hope for Jeno. None at all. All he could do was make an absolute fool out of himself. He'd already done enough of that. Besides, would Donghyuck even accept Jeno's sexuality, if he thought it was okay to lie about being non-straight?

So, Jeno decided to find out more. Do his research, if you will. He would have to find more proof, before believing such ridiculous gossip. He'd have to ask other people (the horror) and pull a conclusion only after hearing from multiple people with different perspectives, as was the smart way to handle an issue like this. He could live by his rules! Just because he'd already broken two, didn't mean he couldn't follow this one! Never, ever go by ridiculous assumptions without asking for the truth first. He wouldn't!

He would... ask other people. And that was where the first and biggest issue came in.

"Sung, how do I talk to other people?" Jeno asked, fully aware his voice had taken on a whiny tone after already being ignored the first five times he'd asked. He was at Jisung's place, on a call with Renjun, and he was lying on Jisung's bed, looking at the younger boy upside down.

Jisung snorted. "You really think I'm the best person to ask that?"

Jeno sighed. "No, but surely you'd know better than me. Didn't you recently make a new friend?"

"Didn't you, too?" Renjun's voice said, sounding tinny over the phone line. "You're such a hypocrite, you're a big boy. Do it yourself."

"Renjun, great!" Jeno sighed, "you should give me advice instead of slander me. How do I talk to other people without being too obvious?"

"Aren't you supposed to be obvious when you're talking to other people? Damn it, Jeno, how often do I have to tell you you'll have to speak up if you want to actually converse with someone?" Renjun sighed. A grin formed on Jisung's face and Jeno moved to get up to shush him, but it was already too late.

 "No, hyung, it's about his crush," Jisung said conspiratorially, laughing to himself at Jeno's defeated expression.

It was silent on the other end of the line for a few seconds. Then Renjun burst out laughing. "Didn't you already break some rules with him? Donghyuck was it, right? Your new friend."

"Shut up," Jeno whined, "it's different this time."

"Explain," Renjun said, still laughing a bit.

"It's complicated," Jeno started, unsure how to explain the situation without sounding like a downright idiot. "It's... it sounds stupid, okay?"

"Just tell him," Jisung said. He was rolling his shoulders in discomfort, and Jeno made a mental reminder to tell Jisung to take off his binder later.

"Fine," Jeno said, sighing. "I overheard a few girls talk about how they thought he was faking his sexuality, and... I guess I got paranoid."

"About what?" Renjun asked, sounding more serious now. Jeno sighed and rolled into a more comfortable position on his stomach.

"Don't know," he mumbled, aware Renjun might not have understood on the other side. He felt embarrassed, now that he'd mentioned it. It sounded stupid now that he thought about it.

Jisung sat down on the bed next to him and leaned his arm on Jeno's back, his elbow pushing almost painfully in between his shoulder blades. "Stop being such a headass," he said with a laugh audible in his voice, "and just ask him about it. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't beat you up over it if I have to believe everything you've said about him."

With a laugh of his own, Jeno pushed Jisung back off the bed and sat up. "Show some respect, you brat. And ask Donghyuck... Maybe I- No, no way," he said, followed by annoyed groans from Jisung and Renjun. Jeno shook his head to himself. "No, I won't ask him myself, I'll just... do as I originally planned and ask for someone else's opinion."

Renjun sighed over the line and Jeno could imagine him rolling his eyes. "Yeah yeah, just go. Just- don't forget you didn't make your rules for nothing. Don't just follow stupid assumptions or gossips."

"Yeah,"

 

So, the next day at university, Jeno gathered all his courage a few times (and then one more time for good measure) and approached one of the girls in the dance studio. He had been thinking all day and night over how to bring it up, and the idea he'd managed to come up with wasn't one he was proud of. But, he needed something to go with. He felt bad about potentially spreading the bad rumor, especially if it ended up not being true, but he just told himself it was for the sake of science and proper research. And, possibly, his sanity.

"Um," he started, and the girl turned to him. He didn't know her name. Jeno mentally cursed himself for making it awkward and uncomfortable not even a second in. The girl, like the girls from yesterday, seemed surprised Jeno talked to her but didn't seem bothered by it, so Jeno continued.

Okay, don't mess this up, he told himself, play it cool.

"I heard some people talk about Lee Donghyuck not being bi at all," he blurted out and instantly wanted to sink through the floor. God, was there a worse way to start a conversation? Now she was going to hate him and not reply to him, and he'd have to go make a fool of himself in front of other people and spread the stupid gossip again. Why was he even doing this?

"Oh, right, I heard about that too," she replied. The pity party in Jeno's brain quieted down and he turned to look her in the eye. She'd heard about it too? Just how far had this rumor spread already?

"What- what do you think about it?" Jeno tried carefully. What he didn't expect was for the girl's face to lighten up the way it did. He could work with that, though.

"Wow, I never took you for someone to be into school gossip. This is so exciting!" she exclaimed, wringing her hands excitedly. Jeno wasn't too sure what to make of that. Did he look... boring? What did someone who didn't look like they'd be into gossip look like? What did it mean? Was it because he never talked to anyone, or was there another reason?

At least she didn't seem to be shy to open up about her thoughts about the matter to Jeno, which was a plus for him.

"I don't know if he really lied about it," she continued, already not paying attention to Jeno anymore. That was also nice. Much less uncomfortable. She waved her hands as she talked, and Jeno had to concentrate to make out what she was saying with how quickly she spoke. "Personally, I think he could! Like, it'd be a mean twist, he's way too perfect otherwise, am I right? Maybe he just thought it'd be cool, I don't know. Haven't asked him."

Jeno nodded with every sentence, just to show he was listening and paying attention. Or, maybe it was to reassure himself he really was following what she was saying.

"Oh!" she suddenly said, and Jeno flinched a bit. God, he truly was tragic. Who allowed him outside? "I do know he's never dated a guy before," the girl continued after pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and tightening her ponytail. "There's a rumor, though, um... Right! Some people say they've seen him make out with girls behind the locker rooms, but I don't think it was ever the same girl twice. Make of that what you want!"

Oh.

Making out with multiple different girls, hidden away in the thick bushes behind the lockers... That didn't sound very much like he'd be open to-

No. He was Donghyuck's friend, he shouldn't be hoping for anything. Shouldn't be expecting anything. He shouldn't even be here, talking about him like this if he truly was his friend.

What was he doing?

"Sorry, I- I have to go," he stammered out, stood up and left the girl behind in the corner of the room. He had to get out and fast.

"Practice isn't done yet, though?" he heard the girl say behind him, but he paid no attention to it. His mind was only going over one thing, over and over again. Donghyuck, making out with random girls, hidden from everyone else. Not paying Jeno or anyone else any mind, not with one specific person. It was on repeat: Donghyuck, some faceless girl, enjoying themselves. Jeno. from a distance. On the outside watching in. Did he even deserve to be Donghyuck's friend anymore?

Donghyuck, other girls. Never, ever him. He knew it was foolish to think like this. They were once friends, for a little while. Jeno should be glad Donghyuck gave up so much of his free time and attention for Jeno.

He'd never have Donghyuck. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uuuuuum so yeah that took a long time? first i was on a vacation, then i. had to take a quick mental health break but that slipped right into a massive writers block. i kinda had to force this one out, i hope it's any decent.

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me here  
> [twitter ](https://twitter.com/nakamotoyutos)  
> [curiouscat ](https://curiouscat.me/yutomi)


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